Disclaimer: If this was mine, I'd be awfully rich, and we would be happy for HHr happening.
A/N: My reply to the "You can't take my child" challenge by Natsky, you can find it here: http://talk.portkey.org/index.php?showtopic=26363&st=0 . I hope you'll like the story, and I feel I need to alert you, Ginny won't be particularly likable here. I don't think that's a problem, but anyhow, I told you beforehand, ok? lol. Now, on with the story…here you all will know how the probation turned out!
Credit for the original plot of the story goes to AnasellaEmm, who wrote the story A Wonderful Caricature of Intimacy on fanfiction.net.
As usual, thanks to my beta Gingercat for her much needed help.
Fight for Custody
Chapter Eleven: Probation Outcome and a Request
The days passed slowly, and often Hermione and Harry, both at home and when at work, would hastily turn to the slightest noise, hoping it was the owl bringing them the letter with the final decision of the Ministry on Bea's custody.
Barely four days had gone by since the letter that told them the decision could come any moment in the next two weeks, and Hermione was already overly stressed by the wait.
Harry noticed this, and while he wasn't much better, once Bea had gone to sleep, he offered to give her a massage to ease her tension.
She gladly accepted his offer, so when they were in their bedroom, Harry locked the door, just in case Bea came there for some reason, he didn't want her to get the wrong idea or see something that would be hard for her to understand at that age.
Then, he sat behind Hermione, who had in the meantime removed her shirt and whose top half was now covered only by her lacy black bra.
Harry gulped, trying to keep his hormones in check, and slowly started rubbing her shoulders in a soothing way.
It wasn't long before he felt the knots in her muscles ease under his touch, and her moan softly in relief. Harry felt his groin tighten, and wondered if that had been a good idea.
He would definitely need a massage himself, and not on the shoulders, if she kept moaning that way.
Finally, half an hour later, they were inside the bed, snuggling against each other, Harry's arms wrapped around her frame, and her head resting on his chest.
The raven haired wizard hoped beyond hope that she wouldn't notice his condition, and maybe snuggling that way wasn't the best way to prevent that, yet refusing her when it had become a habit for them would have made her suspicious and eventually he would have had to explain why he didn't want to spoon with her.
His prayers, though, went unheard, because soon enough he heard her giggling, and could feel the heat coming from her cheeks as she blushed.
"My, Mr. Potter" she slyly whispered into the darkness of the room. "did you forget your wand in your pocket, or were you just happy to give me a massage?" she teased him, and Harry hoped the Earth would open, swallow him, and then close again, so that he wouldn't have to reply to that question.
When he didn't reply, Hermione moved from her position, and moved so that her face was in front of his own. Even in the darkness, they could somehow spot the other's eyes, and she spoke softly.
"Harry, there's nothing to be embarrassed about. It's a normal reaction, and if you want to know the truth, I'm quite flattered by it" she admitted, looking down as she finished her statement.
He pulled her chin up with his fingers, and slowly closed the distance between their lips. No more words were needed, and when they parted a couple minutes later, sleep engulfed both of them quickly, bringing pleasant dreams of the other to their minds.
--
It was ten days after the probation end, and Harry had decided to take Hermione and Bea out for dinner. He had booked a table for three at the most prestigious Wizarding restaurant in Britain, Founder's Magic.
Hermione had cast him a mildly annoyed glance because she didn't think it would do Bea good to see they could afford such places. Hermione was against spoiling the child, and Harry was too, mostly, but now and then he wanted his little princess to have a treat. He also wanted it to be a little anticipated thank you to Hermione, whatever the outcome of the probation might be.
He knew the owl could come any moment now, as they were near to the two weeks deadline.
Slowly through the night, Hermione's mood improved, and when they finally went back home, their bellies full of the most delicious foods to be found in Britain, magical or not, which included oysters and lobsters among other marvellous dishes, she was smiling up at Harry, who had his arm wrapped around her, and his other hand holding Bea's.
They had decided to Apparate to a nearby park and take a little walk to their flat, since the night was warm and completely clear. Harry noticed many stars could be seen, but not as much as they had been able to see when at Hogwarts, during their Astronomy lessons.
"It's because of the city lights" Hermione explained, guessing his line of thought. He grinned at her, nodding, still amazed at how well they could understand each other.
It was only one of the main things that had convinced him they were meant to be together, and that often had him reproach himself for not having guessed it sooner, and having lost years of happiness in the process.
When the three stepped inside the kitchen, though, Harry and Hermione's smiles froze. An envelope was there, and from the look of it, they both knew what it was.
Bea sensed the change of mood in the two adults, and asked what was wrong. Harry picked her up, and reassured her everything was alright, but now she needed to go to sleep.
"But I'm not sleepy, Daddy!" she protested.
Harry smiled at her, even if his heart was in turmoil at the moment.
"I know, sweetheart, but you do want to be really beautiful when you grow up, right?" She nodded, her eyes sparkling.
"Then you need to go to bed early at night, because you need your beauty sleep" he reasoned, and Bea pouted, but allowed him to change her clothes and tuck her in.
When he went back to the kitchen ten minutes later, more or less, Hermione was sitting in a chair, still staring at the envelope.
"Go on, open it" Harry told her. She looked up at him, nodded, and extended her hand toward the envelope, but pulled it back at the last minute. The same thing happened two more times, and she sighed.
"I'm too scared" she admitted, and he nodded. He decided since he was the father, he should be the one to open it, so he sat near her, took a long breath and extended his hand toward the envelope, but found out he too was to scared to open it.
"Together?" Hermione suggested with a weak smile, and he smiled back, just as weakly.
Contemporarily picking the envelope up, they tore it open, took out the parchment, and together read it, their hearts thumping madly in their chests.
Mr. Potter,
The six months evaluation time has given us
precise indications about how well you and
your wife can take care of Beatrice Julie
Potter. There are some issues pointed out by
our inspectors that do not qualify you as
a good parent for the little girl.
Hermione closed her eyes in defeat, dreading to keep reading. Harry felt his heart stopped beating, but forced himself to go on.
However, the positive remarks about your
conduct as a father, and Mrs. Potter as a
mother strongly outdo the negative aspects.
This is why the final decision of the Ministry
Department for Families is that you get full
Custody of Beatrice Julie Potter.
Congratulations, and do not make us regret this
decision, Mr. Potter.
Victoire McHarven,
Head of the Ministry Department for Families
"We did it!" he whispered, amazed. Hermione looked at him like he had gone mad, then forced herself to finish reading the letter, and an huge smile spread on her lips.
She instinctively wrapped her arms around him, and kissed him fiercely on the lips, as tears of joy rolled down both their cheeks.
He wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her on his lap, and kissed her back just as enthusiastically, caressing her back as he did so.
As lack of air forced them to part, he grinned at her. "It's all thanks to you, Mione. I can't even begin expressing how grateful I am to you for this, I really owe you big time" he said, kissing her nose, forehead, cheeks, then pecking her again on the lips.
"It's all right, Harry" she said, a bit overwhelmed by the previous snogging and now by all the kisses Harry was showering her face with. She guessed it was all due to his bubbling joy for being able to keep the child. She didn't want to delude herself that there might be something more. "It was the least I could do, I sure enough didn't want to see Ginny get custody of our" she said, and then realized her mistake, "I mean, your daughter" she corrected herself with a blush.
He didn't even realize her slip of the tongue, because by now he had really come to think of Bea as their daughter, not his own only.
--
It was three days after the letter had arrived, and Hermione was still living with them. Harry knew she expected the façade to end soon, but the fact was he didn't want her to leave. He had fallen in love with her hard during these months and couldn't see himself going on without her anymore.
He knew he had to gather his courage and ask her once and for all if she wanted to stay, and to do so, he needed a trip to Gringott's.
A goblin, called Gruntglacks, escorted him down to his vault, where he looked around, searching a certain jewellery box he had noticed the other times he had been there. Finally he found it, and clicked it open, as it responded to him, being the Potter heir.
He took an object, and clicked it closed again. In a matter of minutes, he was once more in the fresh air of Diagon Alley, a grin on his lips and he toyed with what he had taken, safely tucked in his pocket.
--
Bea was quietly sleeping in her room, Hermione had seen to that. Then, she had joined Harry again in the living room, and, sighing, she decided to take the bull by its horns and face the matter she had been thinking about for days now.
"Harry, whenever you feel like I should go back to my flat, just tell me, ok?" she started. "We will work it out"
Harry looked up at her, surprised at her saying that, and realized his moment had come.
He made sure it was in his pocket, then he walked up to her, wrapping his arms around her waist.
"Would you like never as a reply?" he softly asked, and she gasped. Before she could say anything else, he was on one knee in front of her.
"I know we already had a wedding, Hermione, but now I'm asking you again, and I mean it this time. Will you marry me? Better, will you keep being my wife for the rest of our lives?" he asked, pulling out the ring he had taken at Gringott's earlier that day.
She gasped again as she saw the wonderful, ancient ring he was offering her. It had a diamond in the middle, and two smaller rubies on the sides. The rest of the ring was lined with sparkling minute diamonds, all round it.
"It was the ring my father proposed to my mother with. I didn't give it to Ginny, I thought it too sacred to give it to her. But I'm now offering it to you, Hermione," he continued, "because this six months have made me fall in love with you more than I could ever express with words" he finished, looking up at her.
As green met brown, she knew he was speaking the truth, and all those looks, those touches, those kisses he would randomly start made sense. She had been trying to not let her hopes soar too high, but it was true. He was in love with her, and was now asking her to live her dream. Because, being his wife had always been her dream, since fifth year at Hogwarts. How could he even think she wouldn't want to live it?
Flinging herself at him, she kissed him hard on the mouth, pouring all her love for him in it, her tongue fiercely chasing his own as he pulled her closer, almost melting her body into his own for how close he was holding her.
Finally, she let tears of joy fall, and smiled warmly at him.
"I've always dreamed you would ask, Harry" she said, before kissing him again, as he slipped the ring on her finger.
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